Tag: featured
Me First & The Gimme Gimmes Inter-Review At The Fonda Theater
Dave Unbuckled
May 23, 2017
Me First and The Gimme Gimmes made their welcome return to Los Angeles at the Fonda Theater on May 13th to a sold out crowd that was comprised of every demographic one could think of. After all, the band has been celebrating their 20th anniversary for the past two years, and were prepared to perform their greatest hits, both of which incentivized longtime fans in their forties and your typical Los Angeles punk teenagers. The band was joined by openers Kid Congo Powers and Together Pangea, both who were warmly received, and both who stood out from the typical Fat-Wreck bands that usually get put on these bills. Perhaps it was the absence of Fat Mike on this tour that separated this from your standard Gimme Gimmes appearance, though the band did have suitable substitutes in tow, including Chris Cheney of The Living End. Some in the crowd seemed disappointed that their punk rock idol wasn’t performing, but most got over it as soon as the band opened their set with “Summetime,” off of Are a Drag. But for both Janky Smooth and myself, this was a special show since I was interviewing Spike Slawson in the hours before fans would even
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Isaac Rother & The Phantoms Are Back With 5 Hits From Hell…
DM Collins
May 23, 2017
Isaac Rother & the Phantoms and their soul-laden stew of R&B horror rock and off-the-charts live show bring a seminal but sometimes forgotten era of rock from the 50s and early 60s back to life. But Isaac and his Phantoms also evoke a time just a few decades past, at the cusp of our Modern Garage Era of Rocken’ at Large (or ”MONGEReL” for short), when bands such as the Mummies, the Trashwomen, the Gories, the Bomboras, and the Makers (just to name a few) rooted through not only the record collections of their rock forefathers, but also the backs of their closets, churning out live shows as loaded with sequins and monster masks as they were with broken drumsticks and blown out Fender amps. Unlike many of their successors, these bands also weren’t afraid of adding a little roll to their rock, or exploring those sections of rock’s lemon that still needed lemonade squeezed from them, be it surf music, garage, bubblegum, or glam. Like a breath of fresh tomb air, Mr. Rother and his army of the undead have “dug up” this full-immersion concept anew for the current generation of garage, soul, and just plain rock
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Com Truise & Clark At Forefront of Breaking Stigma of Electronic Music
Aria Silva-Espinosa
May 22, 2017
Electronic music often carries a heavy stigma for being repetitive or unoriginal. Unfortunately, many artists get lumped into the broad category of ‘EDM’ thus rendering their art unpalatable or unapproachable for a significant portion of music enthusiasts. What people fail to recognize is that, just as electric guitar is central to many genres of music, so is the overarching use of ‘electronic’ sound manipulation equipment in music. The Regent in the heart of Downtown L.A. hosted Clark and Com Truise on a Thursday night and the turnout was an impressive mix of people, a relatively diverse sample of audience members. As was expected, there was a significant number of visibly and obviously people under the influence of party drugs. Wide-eyed, they passed through the space respectfully and amicably. English electronic musician Chris Clark performs under the abridged moniker Clark. Although he was an opener for Com Truise’s headlining show, Clark absolutely blew it out of the water. He’s been in the scene since 2001, when his first album Clarence Park debuted on Warp Records. His set was about as dynamic as electronic music can be, ranging from deep house to an almost noise-rock sound. The experience is heightened by the
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Me First & The Gimme Gimmes Janky Smooth Sessions w/ Spike Slawson
Dave Unbuckled
May 20, 2017
7 days until day 1 of Punk Rock Bowling 2017… Last Saturday, May 13th, I sat down with the not-so-soft-spoken Spike Slawson, of Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, at the Fonda Theater before their Los Angeles appearance of their Greatest Hits Tour. We discussed his punk rock super hero origin story, eating ass on tour, and how the Gimme Gimmes choose the songs that make it onto their album. He also shared intimate stories of the late Glen Frye and Co.’s opinions of Desperado’s punk makeover, fronting a band called Ukehunt, his favorite Judy Garland songs to sing live, and what it really feels like to watch Leonardo Dicaprio do a lot of cocaine while hearing your voice in the background. Read the Full Review From The Gimme Gimmes Show at The Fonda Photo: BodhiFox Photography
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Fishbone at The Echoplex: The Royal Treatment for Chim Chim
Janky Smooth Central Command
May 19, 2017
Saturday night at the Echoplex started off with the Uber driver dropping us off in front of The Echo, where we waited outside for 2 minutes before we realized it was the wrong place. So we run across the street down some filthy stairs around a corner and now we are at what appeared to be a back parking lot. A simple barricade across the front of the drive-way and a few security staff in black shirts greet us and conduct a cursory cavity search and inspection of our immediate threat level. My friend has her trusted ass-pocket flask, (empty by now) confiscated with the promise it will be returned at the end of the night. We are ushered passed a mountain of trash bags and assorted garbage piled high along the side of the building. Just another by-product of the glamour and the glitz of Los Angeles nightlife and moments away from yet another Fishbone show under my belt. Once inside, the show was already in full swing with the latest offering from drummer Stephen Perkins (Janes Addiction/Porno for Pyros) entitled Tabitha– a powerhouse trio consisting of Perkins and the Okai Sisters (originally from Tokyo) on Guitar and Bass. They
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Le Butcherettes Leave A Pint of Blood On Stage at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach
Aria Silva-Espinosa
May 18, 2017
Mex-American punk trio Le Butcherettes are sheer intensity personified onstage. On a Wednesday night at Alex’s Bar in Long Beach, the crowd sizzled anxiously under the ominous glow of the shadow-casting red lights.The entire venue has been arranged to allow for maximum capacity, standing room only. Photographers clamored on top of the scattered bar furniture, desperate for a clear shot at the stage which is only elevated slightly from the floor at the very front of the venue space. The enlivened crowd is thick, anxiously buzzing and seemingly impenetrable. Everyone wants to get in on the action and Le Butcherettes come with a satisfaction guarantee for punk music lovers. Alex’s Bar is tactfully decorated with skeletons, Lucha Libre masks and religious iconography. It is a perfect setting for the evening’s headliners to tear it up- Mexican garage punk-style. Draped in red, Teri Gender Bender took her position onstage and delivered a rallying cry of a performance. Teri is accompanied onstage by her bandmates Riko Rodríguez-López and Alejandra Robles Luna. Le Butcherettes opened their set with a song called ‘La Uva’, which was recorded with help from Iggy Pop and is featured on the newest album A RAW YOUTH. Teri displays
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Take This: Win 2 Tix To See Pallbearer at The Echoplex on 5/18
Danny Baraz
May 16, 2017
Pallbearer dropped a MASSIVE 3rd doom metal album this past March and they are showing why it’s perfect timing for Metal to make a comeback- right here, right now. With the hard rock resurgence the past couple years, the endless stream of pop punk and garage rock proliferating out of every shitty amp in America are being incinerated. It’s perfect timing for Pallbearer to throwdown like they have with their album Heartless released by Profound Lore records and catch them while in the midst of their current tour.. Janky Smooth is giving away 2 Tickets to see Pallbearer this Thursday, May 18th at The Echoplex in Los Angeles. You can BUY TICKETS NOW or Complete These Two Steps to Enter to Win Join our Newsletter. A subscription box pops up anytime you visit our site. Fill out three fields and hit submit. If you subscribe and the box disappears you are entered to win. No newsletter confirmation will be sent. Share or Retweet the Pallbearer Ticket giveaway post on either FB or Twitter. Tag a friend in our ticket giveaway post on Instagram. That’s it. Winner will be announced on Thursday morning, 11am pacific time. Winner will be contacted
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Thurston Moore: Genre Be Damned When You’re An Icon
Rob Shepyer
May 16, 2017
Before I go into what happened when Thurston Moore graced the Teragram Ballroom’s stage on Saturday May 12th, I need to paint the picture of what happened immediately after. Smoking a cigarette and leaning against a neighboring liquor mart, I saw an old college friend of mine, a bit of a hipster he never really understood my taste in music. Surprised I was seeing Thurston Moore, he said he thought I was more into punk and metal. Which is true and although Sonic Youth might not exist without punk, I answered my friend that I would take any opportunity to see an icon perform and Thurston Moore is certainly an icon- genre be damned. The night began with Marisa Anderson, a Portland based guitarist that is more or less an instrumental troubadour. She played astral, flowery sounding guitar to such politically and musically conscious songs as “Bread and Roses”, explaining that in times as trying as these we must remember our victories. Bread and Roses is a song about the victory of a women’s textile factory strike and I couldn’t help but wonder where are all the Marisa Andersons are in music? Anderson plays from the heart, and gives wise
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Take This: Win 2 Tix To See Ho99o9 at The Echo on Friday 5/19
Janky Smooth Central Command
May 15, 2017
If we cover even just one more Ho99o9 live show in the pages of Janky Smooth, our readers might start to think that we are nothing but biased groupies. But we don’t care about that as much as being overly redundant since this publication makes no bones about the fact that our format is being fanboys/girls for 15 bands at one time, most of which are on the brink of a break out- and that’s exactly what the boys from Ho99o9 are experiencing right now with their first LP, United States of Horror– a break out. Rather than go too into yet another hyperbolic description of their sound or aesthetic, it would probably be better to just go through past coverage while we get to the point: The Ho99o9 ticket giveaway. You can cut to the chase and just Buy Tickets Now or you can: Enter to Win 2 Tickets to see Ho99o9 at The Echo on Friday, May 19th. There are only two requirements for you to enter to win. Join our newsletter- just fill out the three fields permission that pops up whenever you enter the JankySmooth.com website for us to send you more ticket giveaways, special
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The Secret Journal Of A Pizza Spy at Coachella 2017
Dave Unbuckled
May 10, 2017
Thursday Thoughts On The Night Before Weekend 2 of Coachella 2017 Starts The drive to Indio from LAX was supposed to take three hours & forty seven minutes, but it would be a lot longer than that before we would be out of the car and setting up our tent. We made the conscious decision to depart at 2 pm, in avoidance of desert traffic, as well as the Thursday night Coachella rush. We actually made it to the festival check-in as sun down was finishing, despite the longest stretch of time I have ever spent in a WalMart, in which no expense was spared. After all, we were planning on working at a Pizza Tent for the majority of the weekend and were assuming to soon be handing out dollar bills like Ted Dibiasse. When we finally breached the city limits of Indio, after passing multiple billboards advertising Linkin Park’s new ‘album’ and ‘Gaymoji’, which is exactly what you think it is, we realized we were trailed by a cop all the way to the festival entrance. The presence of added desert police officers was apparent throughout the weekend- especially when we arrived to security several hours later. We
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Take This: Win 2 Tickets To See the mighty FISHBONE at The Echoplex
Janky Smooth Central Command
May 9, 2017
It is the position of Janky Smooth that Fishbone is the greatest live band of the past 3 decades. In any measurable way, Fishbone plays, connects with their audience, records their material and of most importance recently, ages better than any band that typically has people slam dancing to their music. With the recent return of original drummer Philip “Fish” Fisher, Fishbone is closest to their original lineup than they have been in over a decade. To be honest, having ex Suicidal Tendencies guitarist, Rocky George and trombonist and frequent mid-air projectile, Flyin’ Jay filling in for any missing O.G’s isn’t exactly any type of sacrifice for a band. “There is one thing that you can always count on at a Fishbone show- They will never mail it in. There seems to be a drive within them to push every internal limit to deliver to their audience something sacred.” Danny Baraz for janky smooth Fishbone is playing The Echoplex this Saturday, May 13th and Janky Smooth is giving away 2 tickets to one winner. You can enter the giveaway by following the instructions below or you can: Purchase Tickets Here To be eligible to win tickets: Join our newsletter. Newsletter
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Weedeater and The Obsessed at The Regent: Blaze It Up, Fool
Rob Shepyer
May 6, 2017
Doom metal is on such a comeback that I might have to become a pothead again. Until a few months ago, I had the hunch that thrash was going to have a second coming and be the biggest rage in underground metal, but at a time when Saint Vitus and The Obsessed are simultaneously touring, when Pallbearer comes out with a game-changing album, and Sleep returns to the studio, it is clear to me that Doom dancing is back in fashion. related content: Ascending the Holy Mountain- Sleep at The Fonda Theater Doom and stoner metal are siamese genres. Doom originated the slow, heavy, down-tuned sound that stoner metal altered with more distortion and fuzz in the guitars, a faster tempo and lyrics either about weed or things you’d ponder while high on weed. The month of May has huge doom shows booked by Spaceland for the Echoplex and Regent. To crack open the month, The Obsessed and Weedeater shared a stage to mesmerize Los Angeles. If you ask most people, they’d say that Weedeater is a bigger draw than the Obsessed. I suppose that’s partly due to the popularity of weed and thus stoner rock over doom but still,
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